We've come a long way since Breaking Bad first aired. The way we consume TV shows and video content ... [+] has changed massively since the days when we all sat down in front of out TV and surround sound system.gettyIts a Sunday night in 2013 and the finale of Breaking Bad is on TV. Across the country, millions of viewers eagerly await the last episode of the iconic show with Walter and Jesse becoming drug barons. Families gathered around their TVs and home theater systems to enjoy the ultimate viewing experience that this groundbreaking series offered.Fast forward a dozen years to 2025 and the way we watch TV is changing fast. The days when families sat down in a living room to watch live TV are on the wane. These days, audiences can be in their bedroom, on a commuter train or in a coffee shop. Each person will be watching different content on personal devices like smartphones, tablets and laptops, often listening to the sound on tinny and inadequate speakers or isolating headphones.The shift from communal to personal viewing is one of the most significant changes in media consumption habits that weve seen in decades. Streaming video now accounts for more than 80% of all internet traffic and most viewing takes place on personal devices. Meanwhile, cable and terrestrial TV, once the mainstay of family living rooms, continues to see a steady decline. Social media platforms have further accelerated this trend, with TikTok users now watching an average of 95 minutes of short-form video daily; most of it on smartphones.This transformation extends beyond just video. The way people enjoy music has evolved from the family standing around a piano or record player to personal Spotify playlists played on phones. Podcasts have replaced speech radio as our preferred audio companion. Our entertainment diet has become increasingly personal and mostly mobile.Watching movies on a laptop often means wearing headphones is essential to experience great movie ... [+] sound. However, headphones aren't for everyone.gettyWhile screen technology has evolved to meet these changing habits, thanks to smartphones and laptops having better display technologies like OLED, audio technology has struggled to keep up. How can you get immersive sound from increasingly smaller and slimmer devices? Its a challenge thats been driving a quiet wave of audio innovation over the past decade.The Living Room EraHome theater systems were once the peak of consumer audio-visual setups. With 5.1 or 7.1 speakers positioned around a living room, these systems could faithfully reproduce the spatial audio experience that was once only available in commercial theaters with Dolby Sound. Home theater popularized surround sound, bringing Dolby and DTS technology directly into the home.As impressive as these systems were, they also had significant drawbacks such as complexity, cost and the need for a dedicated space with wires and speaker stands cluttering up the room. Most consumers simply didnt have the technical knowledge, budget or space necessary for a proper installation. This led to increased frustration as consumers tried to recreate the full thrill of cinematic sound.Then along came the soundbar. This streamlined solution simplified the home theater setup. These clever all-in-one devices used audio processing to create virtualized spatial audio beamed from a single unit with as few as three drivers. While not matching the immersion of full surround-sound setups, soundbars provided a compelling compromise between quality, convenience and price.As more of us watch TV and movies on our phones, the sound quality often doesn't match the screen ... [+] quality.NurPhoto via Getty ImagesAs viewing habits shift to laptops, tablets and smartphones, even soundbars may not be up to the job. Small personal devices need adaptive audio solutions, but conventional stereo speakers cant deliver satisfying results. Innovators like Audioscenic have recognized the growing disparity between visual resolution and poor audio quality. The company has been developing technology to deliver real immersive 3D sound from compact devices by using the power of AI.The Allure Of The Personal ScreenThe pandemic of 2020 dramatically accelerated the shift towards the use of personal screens for viewing. With cinemas shut down and families confined to their homes, streaming services saw subscriptions soar. Netflix added 37 million new subscribers in 2020, while Disney+ leaped to over 70 million subscribers.This shift toward personal viewing has reshaped the entertainment landscape over multiple user cases. For example, when it comes to entertainment, consumers now routinely watch cinema-quality content on devices with high-resolution displays and basic audio capabilities. The contrast between the visuals and the audio quality has never been starker.For gamers, sound quality can often mean the difference between virtual life and respawn, even mid-core players want precise spatial audio awareness to game at their best. PC games are surging in popularity, but laptops are preferred for mobility although they rely on integral mics and speakers.As more of us work from home and conduct business over Zoom and Teams, we need better and more ... [+] immersive sound.gettyWith many people still working from home, the use of video conferencing continues to be a part of our daily lives. With Zoom and Teams, clear communication is essential but not always possible. Users soon discover the limitations of their laptops microphone and tiny speakers that make more natural conversations difficult.Initially, headsets and headphones seemed like the obvious solution for personal audio. Both offered privacy, portability and good sound quality. However, extended headphone use has its problems such as listening fatigue and physical discomfort. Many users also report a feeling of isolation from their surroundings, sensations sometimes described as Zoom fatigue and headphone claustrophobia.These limitations have driven the demand for a speaker-based solution that can deliver immersive audio without the drawbacks of headphones, all without disturbing others nearby in a shared office, study or train compartment. Addressing this challenge required a new approach which is where the growing power of AI comes in, along with sensor-based spatial audio that can replace fixed-position surround sound setups.Making It PersonalConventional spatial audio has a fundamental shortcoming because it assumes a fixed listener position. Home audio systems require viewers to be in an audio sweet spot where surround effects are properly aligned. When moving from that position, the quality of the sound quickly breaks down.A problem with conventional surround sound is the need to stay within the audio sweet spot where ... [+] sound waves from all the speakers converge.gettyThis fixed listening approach just doesnt work for personal computing where users naturally shift their position, leaning in and out and changing viewing angles at hot desks, co-working spaces or in their home office. A solution where users must remain perfectly still is unnatural and impractical.Finally, a breakthrough came by combining several technologies such as position sensing, speaker beamforming and adaptive crosstalk cancellation. Powered by AI through machine learning, these systems detect a listeners ear position in real-time, dynamically adjusting audio beams so the listener always experiences perfect spatial audio without remaining still. The technology can effectively eliminate crosstalk where the sound intended for the right ear reaches the left ear and vice versa, creating a more immersive listening experience.Perhaps most importantly, these new approaches to sound systems operate without any user intervention. Audioscenics Amphi technology uses AI-powered self-optimization combined with GUI-less operation so theres no complicated interface to navigate. Audioscenic says its system can adapt to the listeners movement without requiring any input. Amphi is described as a set-and-forget 3D sound experience.The Amphi AI Beamforming software stack from Audioscenic means you no longer have to sit still in a ... [+] sweet spot to get full-on 3D immersive sound.AudioscenicIts always a joy to see people's reactions when they first hear our Amphi 3D sound technology," says Marcos Simon, Audioscenics co-founder. The problem with most spatial audio technology is that its too complicated for everyday users. Our vision was to create something that self-optimizes without requiring any technical expertise from the listener, bringing immersive audio to people who don't want to work through user interface settings.In the future, the challenge will lie in making this new technology available across many devices and platforms. However, the current spatial audio landscape is fragmented with over 30 developers currently competing for a piece of the market. Each system offers proprietary solutions that all have different strengths, weaknesses and compatibility limitations.Market FragmentationThis current fragmentation of the market creates lots of consumer confusion. Most users may not understand or care about the technical differences between Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, Sony 360 Reality Audio, or Apple Spatial Audio, they simply want audio that sounds great without requiring a PhD in physics to set the whole thing up.Soon surround sound could be available on most devices in any setting. A static home theater setup ... [+] could soon be a thing of the past.gettyThe audio industrys future probably doesnt lie in a competing web of incompatible formats. Ideally, consumers need intelligent systems that can seamlessly adapt to whatever content they're enjoying regardless of its original format, source or viewing device.Format-agnostic solutions where systems deliver spatial audio regardless of source material are likely to be the best way forward. These technologies can boost standard stereo content or reproduce the latest spatial audio formats without requiring consumers to wrestle with compatibility issues and complicated setups.Googles recent introduction of Eclipsa, an open-source spatial audio format for YouTube is a major step toward mass market adoption. By bringing 3D sound capabilities to the worlds largest video platform, Eclipsa could do for spatial audio what MP3s did for digital music, creating a universal standard that works across most devices and platforms with minimal fuss.As these technologies mature and become the standard in laptops, tablets and smartphones, consumers will eventually experience audio that matches the quality of their displays and without sacrificing comfort or convenience. According to Audioscenic, the journey from theater sound to laptop-sized immersion is almost complete.